Analyst

Job Locations
US-NY-New York | US-MA-Cambridge | US-CA-San Francisco

Category

Research

Overview

Fuel your intellectual curiosity and professional growth. Forrester is an idea company, where smart, motivated, curious people bring a diversity of opinions and the courage of their convictions to collaborate on ideas that change the course of business. Most of all, we bring a point of view; here, every voice has value. At Forrester, you’ll work with innovative clients at emerging and established brands; these are the business and technology leaders we inspire and who inspire us. The Forrester experience is built on a singular, powerful purpose: to challenge thinking and lead change.

About This Role:

Forrester analysts conduct innovative research and deliver advice through written reports, advisory consulting, client inquiries, and speeches. This Analyst will be a member of our infrastructure and operations (I&O) team and will advise clients about data center services including colocation, cloud computing, and networking.

This Analyst will evaluate technology and market developments to help enterprises navigate the complex landscape of infrastructure design and development, with a heavy emphasis on data center services, wide area networking and other communications options, and systems design for technology — all with a special focus on software-defined capabilities. The Analyst will write and speak on how these developments give companies a competitive advantage through quicker agility, higher quality, faster performance, and software automation.

Candidates will need a strong understanding of the technology services landscape, design thinking, the approaches and processes used by traditional and emerging technology providers, and the business technology issues facing business executives today. They will couple this with an appetite for conducting and writing research to stay abreast of the issues.

Responsibilities

Analysts work as part of a small high-performance global team of other analysts and researchers. The Analyst will collaborate with others in all aspects of the job. He or she will:

Develop a deep understanding of the technology vendor landscape to help IT and other digital business professionals select, work with, and optimize their infrastructure.

Formulate a comprehensive but simplified technology strategy for enterprise I&O professionals and the vendors that serve this community.

Reach across Forrester teams to build a seamless body of knowledge to benefit all roles and all clients. Collaboration is one of Forrester’s most sacred core values.

Write high-quality research (in English) that conveys new ideas to help I&O professionals and other technology decision makers solve their business problems and develop their strategies. This research typically: 1) introduces new thinking about successful business and technology strategies; 2) helps clients understand the impact of technology and regulatory issues; or 3) assesses new technologies or services and their potential to help clients solve their business challenges.

Help clients to apply Forrester’s research in the context of their specific business environments and help solve their problems through telephone and email responses to questions from Forrester clients, in-person advisory, and consulting projects.

Present at Forrester-sponsored forums and seminars, and deliver client webinars.

Establish an industry presence as an influential speaker and thinker. Build relationships with senior technology professionals, as well as with the technology vendors who serve them and the journalists who cover the sector.

Take complex, disparate ideas and distill them into simple, provocative concepts — and be willing to take a stand on strategies and outcomes.

Qualifications

A strong record of academic achievement: B.A. or B.S. minimum.

A background in technology development, operations, or strategy. Candidates must have at least five years of proven experience working in a corporate IT organization or a technology provider to these IT customers.

Specific experience in wide area networking, colocation services, or cloud computing; this is essential.

A good understanding of modern software development; this is an advantage, as much of the technology is now software-defined.

Solid business instincts and a practical understanding of what makes companies tick and how digital business executives operate.

Previous analyst experience; this is a plus.

Deep intellectual curiosity about technology design, the impact of technology on customer experiences, and how vendors can help customers create complete systems of technology.

A creative view of technologies, organizations, and markets combined with a fascination with the future and the ability to analyze complex business and technology issues.

Excellent listening, critical thinking, and writing skills, as well as memorable presentation skills.

Fluency in one or more other major language; this would be an advantage.